Lost Luggage

[whirlybird3]

We are traveling to Rome with a layover in Frankfurt and concerned about our luggage being lost.  Anyone had an unfortunate experience in loosing their luggage?  Carry-on for a 8 and 12 night back to back cruise would be challenging.  

[canderson]

Knock wood - have not yet had luggage lost in transfer at Frankfurt.

That said, do NOT cut yourself short on time between flights.  That would be my biggest concern.  It's a huge airport with three distinctly different 'hubs/wings', and your bags will be moving between two of them.

 

 

[mtempelaar]

I have never lost my luggage internationally, though given the state of European airports, I totally get your concern.  My husband and I are flying to The Netherlands to visit family and have a similar concern.

 

I have witnessed a couple without their luggage on a Celebrity cruise once (cruiseline lost it until last night).   Recommendation is same for any trip - ensure you pack a really good carryon for each person and include at least enough for 2-3 days of clothes and bathing suits.  

 

You can make use of the ship laundry service, buy additional things on the ship or in port, but you need to make sure you have the basic necessities covered for clothes, shoes, meds, travel docs.

 

There is another option available - google international luggage shipping.  You can have a company deliver your luggage to your hotel in Rome.  It takes 2-4 days to ship.   Costly option, but piece of mind sometimes is worth it.

 

 

 

 

[gerelmx]

The problem is with a few airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet, Some airlines via their APP let you trace your bags.

[mtempelaar]

 

1 minute ago, gerelmx said:

The problem is with a few airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet, Some airlines via their APP let you trace your bags.

 

I have yet to see an app do it to the level I personally would like, but that being said, we are buying airtags for our luggage this weekend.

[gerelmx]

Just now, mtempelaar said:

 

 

I have yet to see an app do it to the level I personally would like, but that being said, we are buying airtags for our luggage this weekend.

 

with your booking code AA App trace your bags

[Jeremiah1212]

Pack a sufficient amount of things in your carry on that you cannot do without and arrive a few days early in case your bags need to catch up with you. That's really all you can do. Even if you have an AirTag in your bag, you may know where it was last located but in reality it's not going to be much help. 

[keesar]

31 minutes ago, whirlybird3 said:

We are traveling to Rome with a layover in Frankfurt and concerned about our luggage being lost.  Anyone had an unfortunate experience in loosing their luggage?  Carry-on for a 8 and 12 night back to back cruise would be challenging.  

Your fear is shared by others.  When we travel. I try to go for a nonstop or a flight with as few changes as possible.  It is important to choose an airline that has an excellent record with their luggage handling.  Some will choose an itinerary based on cost but with the more stops, the odds increase in having luggage misplaced. 

[JFontaine]

Also, cross pack: half  of your clothes in each suitcase so if one suitcase goes missing you will have clothes in the other suitcase. 

[Torfamm]

Yes, I have had luggage misdirected when flying internationally. It took an extra day to catch up with me much as it could when flying domestic. Are you arriving on boarding day? My best advice would be to arrive at least the day before you cruise. It’s also wise to pack at least a change of clothes and some essentials in a carry-on.

[mahdnc]

We are flying to Rome in October.  It is my wife's dream for our bags to be lost so she has an excuse to buy a new wardrobe in Rome in which case I will need the Euro to go down more....

[yogini06]

43 minutes ago, whirlybird3 said:

We are traveling to Rome with a layover in Frankfurt and concerned about our luggage being lost.  Anyone had an unfortunate experience in loosing their luggage?  Carry-on for a 8 and 12 night back to back cruise would be challenging.  

Traveled through Frankfurt in May with 75 minutes to make our connection.  Our luggage made it to Venice without delay.  I considered using an air tag for tracing but United Airlines app offers bag tracking 

[mfs2k]

Tracking lost luggage with an app is great but not losing the luggage in the first place is greater. 

[phoenix_dream]

33 minutes ago, JFontaine said:

Also, cross pack: half  of your clothes in each suitcase so if one suitcase goes missing you will have clothes in the other suitcase. 

100% agree!  We always do this, and never more important than flying these days.  

[kathynorth]

We once had our luggage lost, or should I say sort of lost, before a cruise. Our flight plan was BOS to JFK to Rome on Delta. Our flight left late from BOS, which made for a very tight connection from JFK to Rome, so the airline made the decision to move us to a partner airline for the 2nd leg. The problem was that our luggage didn't make it onto our flight. Fortunately we arrived in Rome 3 days early and had packed a change of clothes in our carry on bags. Plus the Airbnb we stayed at had a washer and dryer for our use. Delta promised to have the bags delivered to our Airbnb the next day, but they didn't arrive. When they didn't arrive the 2nd day or by dinner time the 3rd day, despite many calls to the airline, we were very concerned. When we arrived back to the apt around 8pm on day 3 we found our bags on the sidewalk outside where we were staying. There was a note saying sorry to leave here, the door was locked, which by the way the street door wasn't locked. At any rate we finally had everything we needed for our cruise, plus a story to tell friends and family when we arrived home. Now we do everything we can to book direct flights and if not possible we leave lots of time between connector flights. 

[mom says]

Don't know why people claim their bags were lost, when in reality the vast majority were simply delayed.  Yes, it's annoying. Yes, it's a bigger problem than in preCOVID times. Yes, if you arrive on embarkation  day, you are just asking for trouble. You can offset the chances of sailing without your luggage using a combination of the previous suggestions. Direct flights and arriving several days before embarkation being the most obvious. 

[PurpleTraveller]

On my recent Reflection cruise I met a couple whose luggage was lost by their airline. They never did get it while on the cruise.

 

Lost luggage seems to happen more often when there are a number of flights in a journey so try to minimise the number of changes and leave plenty of time between the flights so that there is time for your luggage to get to each plane.

 

I recommend packing a couple of changes of clothes in your carry on so that if the worst happens you can at least have some clean clothes to change into. Also cross pack so that if one suitcase goes missing at least you both have some clothes.

 

Edited July 18, 2022 by PurpleTraveller

[Lena11033]

I haven't but I have the same concerns, flying to Rome in 18 days, cruise is 3 days later. I'm traveling alone so multiple suitcases is not an option for mixing clothes.
I've got an airtag which won't help with avoiding loss/delay but can at least check where it is. I'm trying to get as much as I can into my carry on which is really 1 bag. My camera bag has my docs, passports, medications, electronics etc in there so my wheely bag will have clothes. I'm trying to get a mixture of clothes plus my work laptop (2 days in Rome, 10 day cruise, 3 days in Rome and then UK for a week it's a little hard). Only reason I am doing this now is one the rule is as long as I can lift it so keep seeing how heavy it is 🤣 and then if too much what can I manage without. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

Lots of bag issues.  Friends flew Vancouver to Amsterdam in May and bags arrived 4 days later.  Son was the head speaker in Dublin last week. Gave his speech in Bermuda shorts and a polo shirt.

Best you can do is fly in a couple days early and ALWAYS have a carryon bag with meds, documents and 2 or 3 changes of everything except pants.

[calicakes]

4 hours ago, whirlybird3 said:

We are traveling to Rome with a layover in Frankfurt and concerned about our luggage being lost.  Anyone had an unfortunate experience in loosing their luggage?  Carry-on for a 8 and 12 night back to back cruise would be challenging.  

We're going to Rome in September with a stop in NYC.  I just purchased Apple Air tags for our luggage.  At least if its lost, I'll know where it is. 

[goofysmom99]

I've taken one TA minus my checked bag but I pack my carryon as though it always will happen.  Lots of black and colorful scarves.  Works well for land trips via trains in Europe, too.  And seriously, no one actually remembers what you wore yesterday anyway.

[canderson]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Son was the head speaker in Dublin last week. Gave his speech in Bermuda shorts and a polo shirt.

Several decades back, worked near the airport, and I checked my bags in and grabbed my boarding pass early (during lunch) for a flight to Indianapolis for a training seminar since I knew my time would be tight for the flight after work, and I could head directly to the gate.  This was in KC where at the time, it was a very interesting airport configuration (security has long since killed the excellent convenience of its design).

 

The next flight out after lunch from that gate was headed to Lisbon.  Yes, Portugal.  My bags got to see Portugal before I ever traveled there.  Like your son, having arrived late in Indianapolis, I wound up in front of the crowd the next morning in decidedly casual attire, and had to buy underwear, slacks and a couple of shirts for the one-week event.

 

Bags met me back in Kansas City.

[cruisemom42]

I recently traveled home from a trip to Europe:  Lyon to Amsterdam to ATL.  My bag did not make the transfer at Schiphol, despite a 4.5 hour window between flights. It was not returned to me to for 12 days. Yes, 12 days. 

 

I have never experienced the baggage chaos of this year. Everywhere, in every airport there seems to be mounds of luggage awaiting pick-up or re-direction.

 

[vjmatty]

On 7/18/2022 at 5:24 PM, mahdnc said:

We are flying to Rome in October.  It is my wife's dream for our bags to be lost so she has an excuse to buy a new wardrobe in Rome in which case I will need the Euro to go down more....

 

You just gave me an idea of what to do with all that extra OBC.....